By Joshua Niyonshima
Recently, 800 clearing agents and URA staff received training on data governance to improve data management. The training, which was facilitated by the URA Data Governance Committee, focused on the quality of data collected and maintained in URA systems and its usage for decision-making.
During the session with clearing agents in Kampala, Victoria Nabitaka Makumbi, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs Field Services highlighted URA’s data governance program, saying, “We have a data governance policy that governs both agents and staff, a data governance committee, initiatives around the data warehouse (eHUB), data security, and data analytics, which must be supported by capturing good quality data, data that is accurate, complete, and correct.”
She added that data informs policy formulation, like the creation of tax laws and amendments, and it determines exemptions. It is also essential in research.
The Assistant Commissioner of Research and Innovation, Allen Nassanga, implored the trainees to avoid shortcuts in their hunt for business information, noting that information is readily available and it is a right for each Ugandan to access the information in line with Article 41 of the Constitution.
Nassanga also pledged to provide statistics on the quality of data captured and submitted by clearing agents. “This will help in improving data quality,” she said.
The trainings, which began in October, have benefited staff and customs clearing agents across the country, and according to Stella Kwera Kisuze, the supervisor of business intelligence, more trainings are to be conducted in the single customs territory of Mombasa and the Central region.
